Glinda came to visit Elphaba around the last few days of school while Fiyero was out. Immediately she complained, "I never see you anymore."
"You see me all the time, Glinda." Elphaba sat down at the small table in the kitchen that she and Fiyero ate their meals at. "What in Oz are you talking about?"
"I haven't seen you alone since the day before you were married, Elphie. That was almost half a year ago." Glinda said.
"I'm sorry." Elphaba shrugged. She was not sure if she was sorry. Glinda was her best friend and the truth was that she hadn't gone out to any sort of social thing without Fiyero. But for some reason, she had longed to speak with Glinda alone, this afternoon. "We're talking now. And there are a few things we need to talk about."
"Yes, we do." Glinda agreed. "How have you been, Elphie?"
"Happy."
"I'm glad. I've kind of missed you."
"No you haven't. Boq, Fiyero, you and I go out often enough."
"But I miss just talking to you. There are things I've been wanting to ask you for a long time that I can't just blurt out in front of anyone else."
"You've never had a problem blurting things out before." Elphaba commented.
"What's it like, Elphie? Was it scary?"
"I knew you were going to ask me this," Elphaba shook her head. "If you must know… it's… kind of like a tearing the first time, like someone's taken a knife and tore off a layer of skin."
Glinda winced. "I never want to have sex."
"It's not that bad. Well, it wasn't that bad, for me. Fiyero's always been gentle when he knows he has to be."
"Did you tell him to be?"
"We didn't speak at all for most of it. He just kissed me a lot and I tried to get used to it. When he came, though, it felt so gross and I felt so… ugh, disgusting and used, even though we were married. Afterwards, he told me that he loved me and hugged me close. I was so exhausted from the entire day, not just the sex, that I felt right asleep."
"Did you bleed, though? Glinda pressed.
"Well, yes."
"It sounds so gross, Elphie. How could you ever want to do that again?"
"Because I told myself it would feel good later. And he liked it, so I wasn't going to just deprive him."
"I wouldn't care what my husband wanted, I'd just say 'no way'."
"I have a feeling most women don't do that." Elphaba laughed. "Besides, you were right when you said you'd heard it got better."
"It does?"
"Thank Oz it does. I don't know how I'd stand the way Fiyero is about it if it wasn't feeling just as good for me. In the middle of the night when I accidentally woke him again, he got that look in his eyes and I just kind of laid back, figuring I'd be doing this a lot. He was incredibly surprised I wasn't hurting anymore. But I certainly wasn't. It was," Elphaba shuddered, "much, much better."
"Really? It wasn't uncomfortable?"
"And afterwards it felt less like he'd just used me for a toilet and more like we'd just made love for real. We talked for a little while afterwards, too, and he kept telling me he hadn't meant to do it again that night; he'd just felt my hands when I'd moved against him getting up and he couldn't help himself. I told him it was fine, and he could do whatever he wanted as often as he wanted, because I certainly wouldn't complain. We fell asleep really close to each other, then, and that time it seemed more like a honeymoon and less like a duty. We probably would've slept the whole next day through, though, because we were quite tired after doing it twice, but someone came and knocked on our door."
"So I didn't interrupt you?"
"Of course not. I was glad to see you before you left. I wanted to tell you what it was like, but I couldn't very well get out of bed, naked, and just take you aside."
"I'm glad it wasn't terribly awful."
"It wasn't, not at all. And Fiyero and I love each other more than anything, so even if it had been bad, I'd still go through with it. There are so many other moments with him that aren't sex that I'd do anything to keep."
"I thought young married couples just sat around and had sex all the time," Glinda said stupidly.
"Are you serious? We have classes and things to do. I mean, there are times when Fiyero or I get playfully excited and we can't help ourselves, but we're young and restless and it's fine. Once or twice, he's been a complete idiot and suggested things at the wrong times, but normally he knows when to behave. We'll probably be a little reckless for a few years, but I don't mind it at all. There's so much in it that's not sex, though. Waking up in the morning and finding his arms around me, coming back from class and going straight back to sleep while he makes breakfast or lunch, taking care of him when he's sick… any of that. I love it all, even when I think I hate it."
"I'm happy for you." Glinda decided. "I'm really glad you found Fiyero, Elphie. I do wish you'd spend more time with me, but I'm glad you have him."
Elphaba bit her lip. How could she spend more time with Glinda when in a week she'd be back at Kiamo Ko for life? "Oh, Glinda, I have to tell you… Fiyero and I might not be coming back next year. We're graduating early." Simplest terms were easiest.
"What?" Glinda was dumbstruck. "You're leaving me here?"
"You can come out and visit us. Over the summer, if you really want, in the last month, you can come. Fiyero and I need to get used to living at Kiamo Ko and such, but you're welcome to come out, Boq, too."
"Why must you put Boq in everything you say to me?" Glinda demanded.
"Because, from what Fiyero tells me, you two went out on a date. And your second one is to be tonight."
"It wasn't a date! And how do you know that?"
"Boq's been really close with Fiyero, lately. Almost as close as we've been. Fiyero tells me everything. He's not so good at keeping secrets when I have my own ways of persuasion." Elphaba smiled smugly.
"Well, I agreed I'd see Boq. I didn't agree it would be a date." Glinda huffed.
"Going out alone is very close to dating." Elphaba argued.
"Not if we didn't even hold hands."
"Would you hold his hand if he tried?"
"I… I don't know." Glinda stuttered. She looked to the door as the knob opened. "Oh, well, I must go. Your wonderful husband is home."
Fiyero stepped into the room. He smiled at both of the women. "Hey, Glinda."
"I was just leaving." She said quickly.
"You don't have to." Fiyero said.
"I was going to. Elphie and I have discussed a lot and I think I need some time to myself…"
"Glinda!" Elphaba called as the door closed.
"What was that all about?" Fiyero looked at Elphaba.
"Boq. And sex."
"Boq… and sex? What?"
"Two completely separate conversations, don't worry about it."
Fiyero leaned down and kissed Elphaba on the cheek. "We'd better start packing. We're leaving in two days."
"Forever." Elphaba said softly.
"I thought that's what you wanted?"
"It is." Elphaba took his hands and stood up. "All I want is you forever. And maybe my best friend."
"That's what this is about?" Fiyero sighed. "I've invited Boq out for the end of the summer, after we're settled. If you want Glinda…"
"I already did."
"I didn't say you could."
"I don't need your permission!" Elphaba exclaimed.
"You never have." Fiyero chucked. "You never will."